And the winner is...

Wow!!! What a race!!!! I couldn't believe how MANY votes were coming in! You all have some serious support in your friends and family! Thank you so much for participating in the contest--every last one of you! This was so fun to do! I'm proud to announce that my new cover model will be:

Dannaca will be featured on the cover of my website and have a bio page on my site as well!

And for those that didn't win, stay tuned! I will be having contests from time to time and would love to see you back!

Mom and son

I had such a great time with this session! A great mom/son combo and not to mention the cute dogs! What more could you ask for? !!!
I was even able to catch some great warm evening sun before it disappeared on this first one. I Love the warm, golden coloring.

Contest Winner

Don't forget to check back tomorrow to see who has won the cover model contest. Remember to put your vote in the subject line and email contests4photography@gmail.com to cast your vote!!

Just one

I had a session last night with a mom and son, and I just wanted to share one until I get the rest proofed.

Have I mentioned I love feet? :)

So many new things!

This great family wanted to go somewhere special to them for their pictures. When she mentioned the place I had to go up and look to make sure we could do it and to see what the lighting would be like. I was blown away with how gorgeous it was, and could hardly wait to take their pictures! BUT, it was a little darker and even though I'm a natural light girl, I've been thinking about branching out lately--this provided the opportunity for me to play with some flash! I was nervous about using the flash, but I'd been reading a playing around for a little bit, and hoped it would come together for me...well, there wasn't enough contrast in the lighting for my flash to pick up the signal off camera, and since I didn't have a pocket wizard, I had to mount the flash on the camera and bounce it off of the surrounding trees. But, I'm happy with how they turned out for never having used flash before!

It was a great session and this family was just wonderful to spend some time with. The two kids reminded me so much of my own kids..so spunky and fun! They loved climbing the rocks. I had to tease dad to get him to smile, but we snuck one or two in for you "K"!

In addition, I got myself a new SPEEDY computer, complete with an LCD screen that looks SOOOO Different from my last monster monitor. I've tried my best to calibrate, but if these look really off, please let me know!

And last of all is a big announcement that I am going to start offering print packages. I am really excited about this. Almost all of my customers have asked about packages, and I've listened! I'll be sharing them soon!

Seriously, I just can't stand how gorgeous this place was! Check it out!

2 days left

Just wanted to remind everyone that we have only 2 days left for voting! Good luck to you all!!

Christmas Cards!!!

Too early to start thinking about Christmas, you say? No way! Photographers start thinking about their holiday season well before the season actually comes. I was attempting making my own cards, but then I found these being sold by someone on a photography board, and I just had to have them. They are so cute and there is so much variety in the collection. Can you tell how excited I am about them? :)


I wanted to give you all a little peak into what you can expect. Okay, so really this is a very LIMITED sneak peek, but I just HAD to share anyway. I have two sets of cards to offer my clients this year. The first is called "Elegant" and the second is "Fashion" ... hopefully a little something to suit everyone. I love both and will have a hard time deciding what to do for my own cards this year!



These cards will be offered in either a flat print or as a folded card. I can't wait to show you more, but for now, you'll have to enjoy these two:



Elegant:
(front)

(back)

Fashion:
(front)

(back)

So all of you need to start thinking about getting your Holiday pictures done soon! Check back-I will be posting some GREAT deals for Holiday sessions!!!

Now I hope you are excited too!!

Tagged

I've been tagged by a photographer friend and so this means you get to all hear 8 things about me you may have never cared to know (lucky, lucky you):

1. I've never traveled east of Colorado. I love traveling, and would LOVE to go back east and would love to travel to many other countries....maybe someday. (sigh) Currently my top favorites list includes Seattle, San Diego, and Las Vegas (another tidbit: I don't gamble). I've been "this close" to both Mexico and Canada, but never crossed the border to either.

2. I'm not spontaneous. At all. I like to know everything I can and plan for everything I can, and I have mini freakouts in my head if something happens that I don't know. I'm good at change...but only when I know it's coming ;) Then I take a deep breath, realign my thoughts and then I'm fine. But I still like to know what is going on.

3. I love organization, but am horrible at the execution. I dream of having an entirely organized house and life...well, it's still in the dream stage. I love labels and want to label everything. Anyone sensing a complete Type A here? Lol. Yes, that's me all the way.

4. I'm more analytical than I am creative. I struggle with being creative. I'm really trying to push myself creatively with this whole photography thing, but wonder if it will ever really click. I can learn technically, but I'm afraid I'll suffer artistically!

5. I love to learn. I've been going to school for the last few years, majoring in Political Science and minoring in Business. I'd like to get into public administration and maybe even attempt law school; however, I've decided I need to take a break for now (which is REALLY HARD for me to do) because of the next item on my list.

6. I'm homeschooling my son. I'm not especially pleased with the school situation here, and feel that I can give him more direct attention and help him to expand his knowledge so much further than he would in school. No, I'm not a freak or a granola or any of the preconceived notions you may have about parents who homeschool their children. This year is our first and we'll see if it lasts. He is 8. We are studying Latin, Chemistry, he's breezing through his math (smart, smart boy), memorization, diagramming sentences, and lots of history and reading. So far we've learned a whole lot about Mesopotamia, Egypt, and the areas surrounding the Fertile Crescent. He loves it.

7. I do this '...' too often when I write. It used to be too many commas, but now it's these '...'

8. I want to be a humanitarian. I want to take vacations to other countries and help other people. I want to help people in my own country. I want my children to grow up and see all the things that they are blessed with and realize that there really are SO MANY other ways of living, and not all of them are ideal (not most of them), and to be truly thankful for what we have. I want to help spread all the blessings that I've received in my life.

And of course, here's a picture. This is one I took without him being ready, and he reminds me SO MUCH of my little brother that passed away about 4 years ago in this shot. I just can't stop looking at it.

Now I'm off to find some others to tag. I'll check back later. :)

6 months of wonder

Had to show off my 6 month old nephew. Too cute!

CONTEST DAY!

It is contest day!! And one thing is for sure--there are some seriously cute kids out there and I'm lucky enough to feature one of them on my website! Woo hoo!


RULES:

1. ONE vote per day per email address. Send votes with the letter you are voting for to in the subject line: contests4photography@gmail.com Votes will not count if they are sent to any other email address!
2. The contest will be open for 10 days, and will end at midnight August 30, 2007.
3. In the event of a tie, a random drawing will be held to determine the winner
4. Winner must have session within one month, or prize will be forfeited.
5. The prize holds NO cash value.
6. Rulese subject to change as needed and can only be changed by authoring photographer and/or photographer's assistant(s).
7. Only one winner allowed.

THE LUCKY WINNER WILL RECEIVE:

• A free photo session for the winning child.
  The child will be featured as a model on my website intro page for the minimum of 1 month.
• A small bio on my website about the child.
• A free 5x7 of the featured shot.
• 15% off any additional prints (*for the initial print order only)

Now on to the entries:

A.

B.

C.

D.

E.

F.

G.

H.

I.

J.

Beautiful Baby

I was contacted a while ago to do this newborns pictures. Oh my word, she was just the cutest little thing, and so fuzzy (reminded me of my babies) and had the longest eyebrows I'd ever seen on a baby! Mom and Dad were tickled pink with her (as they rightly deserved to be), and mom and dad were just as pretty. So, M, here is your sneak peek! I hope you enjoy. I had such a great time!

More

Just wanted to share a couple more from my session at the Peace Gardens.

E.T.

I just realized that the initials of the first names of mom and dad together make E.T. Yes, I do have an odd sense of humor. Bear with me. ;) E is a friend of my husband from way back, and I've gotten to know E and T a little better over the last few years. I was so pleased they asked me to take pictures of their beautiful little family!
E requested a session at the International Peace Gardens. I've been wanting to go there for some time now, and was excited he suggested it. I got there a few minutes early and had the chance to walk around and enjoy the gardens, and then just sit and take time in my own thoughts (which seem so jumbled these days). It was such a beautiful, peaceful place. I had to call my husband and tell him that I thought we should just move right in there. I just didn't want to go. Who knew such a gorgeous, peaceful place could be found in the middle of a run-down part of town?

I've only processed some of the girls so far, but wanted to share them with you. I know the first is slightly OOF (out of focus), but I actually like it that way...they were dancing, and it was so cute!

Little Lady

Just to prove that the rock star can be tamed...

Can't help myself

I was processing this order today and realized I hadn't posted these. I am so in love with them, so I hope you enjoy the pictures as much.

Today started out early. Jason and I have decided to do P90X . Yes, we laughed this morning this it is probably the first infomercial product that we've ever purchased. We got it in the mail last week and started the program on Monday. I am so sore already, I can't even begin to tell you! Today we worked on shoulders and arms and did a power ab program. It's an intense program and not for pansies. I need something like this to get my butt in gear (literally ;). I'm really excited about this and wonder how babe-a-licious I'm going to be when it's all said and done. Ha! Ha!!

Anyway, here are some pictures I took of my aunt and uncle for their 30th anniversary and some of some more of my family from when they came up to visit with my grandmother. The first is my brother just younger than me. My dad and my uncle (go Dad!!).

My sweet grandmother

And Steve and Cindy--my two favorites of our mini session. It was so good to see you guys!!